Dogs Playing Poker

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His Station and Four Aces by C. M. Coolidge, 1903.

Dogs Playing Poker (DPP) refers collectively to a series of sixteen oil paintings by C. M. Coolidge, commissioned in 1903 by Brown & Bigelow to advertise cigars.^[1] All the paintings in the series feature anthropomorphized dogs, but the nine in which dogs are seated around a card table have become derisively well-known in the United States as examples of manly working-class taste in home decoration. Critic Annette Ferrara describes DPP as "indelibly burned into (the American collective-schlock subconscious) through incessant reproduction on all manner of pop ephemera."^[2]

On February 15, 2005, the originals of "A Bold Bluff" and "Waterloo" were auctioned as a pair to an undisclosed buyer for US $590,400. The previous top price for a Coolidge was $74,000.^[3]

The titles in the DPP series are:

A Bachelor's Dog
A Bold Bluff
Breach of Promise Suit
A Friend in Need
His Station and Four Aces
New Year's Eve in Dog Ville
One to Tie Two to Win
Pinched with Four Aces
Poker Sympathy
Post Mortem
The Reunion
Riding the Goat
Sitting up with a Sick Friend
Stranger in Camp
Ten Miles to a Garage
Waterloo

[edit] Modern references in popular culture

The set for the TV show Roseanne had a reproduction of one of the paintings in the family's living room.
The animated television series The Simpsons has made several references to the paintings, most notoriously in Treehouse of Horror IV, when Homer is driven to insanity by his mix of intense fear and intense amusement in response to one of the paintings. ^[4]
Dogs Playing Poker TV ads were aired during ESPN Sunday Night Football during the 1998 and 1999 National Football League seasons. The 1998 ads showed animatronics dogs (the Bulldog's voiceover was by Gilbert Gottfried), while the 1999 commercials used human actors, including Herman Moore, Terrell Davis, Joe Theismann, and Jason Sehorn.
The videogame Psychonauts by Tim Schafer has an entire level, named "Black Velvetopia", dedicated to kitsch art. After completing the level, the artist, Edgar Teglee, begins painting a DPP painting, remarking that although it is impossible for dogs to play cards without thumbs, still they go on, a metaphor for life. Also, if Raz reenters Edgar's mind after completing the level, he will see that Edgar is playing poker with the dogs he encountered in the alleys. Coincidentally, the level right before Black Velvetopia is called Waterloo World.
In the 1993 computer game Day of the Tentacle, a stylized DPP painting decorates the bedroom of one of the characters.
In the Family Guy episode "Saving Private Brian", Mayor West is discovered playing poker with dogs in the school's basement when Chris falls through the floor. Also in the Family Guy episode "Road to Rhode Island", Stewie comments on DPP paintings on the wall at Brian's mother's house. He suggests that since Jesus is alone in one of the paintings, the dogs should invite him to their card game.
In Larry Shue's play The Foreigner, a character complains that she does not want to be in her motel room because there is a "Damn picture on the wall of some dogs playin' poker."
In the television show NewsRadio's spoof of the movie "Titanic", characters fleeing the sinking ship/radio broadcasting studio dump famous artworks, but hold on to one of the DPP paintings, which character Jimmy James claims is a "great picture".
In the 1999 movie remake of The Thomas Crown Affair, the character Banning finds the stolen Monet in Crown's house and takes it back to her office. However, on expert examination it turns out to be a fake, painted on top of a DPP canvas.
In an episode of the TV series That '70s Show, ("Hunting") DPP is parodied by the characters taking the places of the dogs.
In 2000, Roger Waters and his band play cribbage on stage halfway through the song "Dogs" at each city of the entire tour. One show of the tour is captured on the DVD In the Flesh Live. The intent was for them to play one round of the game at each show and the winner would be determined by the end of the tour. This act gave the appearance of the DPP painting. It is unknown if this connection was intentional.
In an episode of Animaniacs, a young Pablo Picasso's artistic frustration is demonstrated by his producing a DPP painting.
"Weird Al" Yankovic mentions DPP in his song Velvet Elvis.
In The Suite Life of Zack and Cody on the Disney Channel, pampered girl London Tipton is planning a party for her dog; returning from shopping, she announces that she has found the "cutest little painting" of dogs playing poker.During the end credits Mattie is seen in a dog suit playing poker with the dog-guests.
In one notable strip of "The Far Side", a homeless artist, named Gus Nickerson in the caption, is depicted lying on the street, surrounded by unsold paintings similar to DPP but depicting other animals such as giraffes, bugs, chickens and gators. The caption tells of how he was unemployed until someone said, "Hey, have you ever tried dogs playing poker"?
In The First pilot of The New Grimm's Fairy Tale Classics, Bill Thompson is in the painting on the top.
In the 2004 remake of Around the World in 80 Days, Monique has a painting of Dogs playing poker in her sketchbook.
The Austin Lounge Lizards refer to DPP in the song Paint Me on Velvet, from their album of the same name.